Shell announced the increase in fuel prices (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File)

From this Wednesday, February 15, fuel prices will rise of Shell in one 4% on average. The increase is part of the agreement established with the national government. In this way, the price update tries to absorb the increases in biofuels as much as possible, as well as the logistics costs and the variation in the official exchange rate.

In November of last year, the oil companies as well as the Ministry of Economy They agreed to a cap on gas increases for a period of four months. In December, the 4% increase materialized and in mid-January there was a similar increase.

Indeed, the agreement of the Fair Prices program provided for the increase which will take effect from midnight when Shell will increase the prices of its fuels by 4%. In this context, in March there will be another increase, but it will be 3.8%, as agreed with the Secretary of Commerce.

The agreement was seen as positive by the companies as it provides predictability in the market. They pointed out that “the price update tries to absorb as a minimum the increases in the prices of biofuels, the increase in logistics costs and the variation in the official exchange rate which affects the price of the raw materials that we use for the production. fuel production. In January, Shell led the rise, then YPF and the rest of the oil companies followed. So I know for a fact that the increase confirmed this midnight will also be reflected in the rest of the companies.

Under the agreed price increase scheme, average gas station prices in the city of Buenos Aires would increase from $157 to approximately $163.20 for a liter of premium gasoline; and $193 to over $200 for the premium. During this time, the liter of diesel will drop from $168.60 to $174.70 and the liter of premium diesel from $231 to 240.20 pesos.

Shell's hike has been in effect since midnight Wednesday (REUTERS)
Shell’s hike has been in effect since midnight Wednesday (REUTERS)

The agreement signed in November by YPF, Panamerican Energy, Raizen and Trafigura was carried out with the objective of having predictability and containing inflation. Indeed, the State is committed to guaranteeing companies access to foreign currencies, in particular for the supply of lubricants. In addition, he agreed to temporarily reduce taxes on fuel imports in order to guarantee the supply of the agricultural sectors.

On the other hand, the Government formalized the decision to postpone the application of fuel tax increases, corresponding to the third and fourth quarters of 2021 and the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2022, for unleaded naphtha, virgin naphtha and diesel. With this measure, the companies have the necessary margin to respect the schedule of the agreed increases. Considering the validity period, it is estimated that the quarterly update will only be made from April 1, 2023.

In March, the last increase in the fair fuel price program will take place, and for this reason, last December, the president of YPF Pablo González pointed out GlobeLiveMedia that once the deadline has expired “we will see each other again”. For his part, Teófilo Lacroze, CEO of Raizen, considered that the price agreement took place within the framework of an expectation that inflation and devaluation would converge towards this maximum percentage increase, which the government has not been able to achieve so far. . .

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